SA's ban on the buying and selling of alcohol, save its use in hand sanitisers and industrial products, as well as the prohibition of the sale of cigarettes will remain in place until at least the end of the lockdown at the end of April.
The prohibition against the buying and selling of wine, beer and spirits, as well as cigarettes and tobacco products, was instituted at the start of the lockdown in late March. The lockdown has been extended for a second phase to the end of April in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, briefed the media on Thursday morning on amendments to the regulations governing the lockdown.
"In the amendments, we are stressing the issue of the prohibition of transportation of liquor. The only alcohol that is allowed to be transported is that used for commercial purposes for our sanitisers and related issues," she said.
"But liquor that we drink is not allowed to be transported, in the same way that it is not allowed to be sold. So that is what we are adding."
Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu, confirmed the ban on the buying and selling of cigarettes would remain.
Dlamini-Zuma added that SA's economy would "incrementally" be opened up, and South Africans could expect the publication of new amendments almost every week.
Some prohibitions would remain in place for a "very long time," she said, but did not provide any detail.
